Lopez majority lambasts Piki’s business decisions

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April 7, 2026 | 12:00am

‘Like a king without accountability’

MANILA, Philippines — The Lopez family majority shareholders, representing three branches of the clan, has accused tycoon Federico “Piki” Lopez of acting “like a king without accountability” as they question the rationale of his business decisions involving First Gen Corp.

First Gen however, has maintained that all its contracts and agreements are entered into only upon thorough review and approval by its board of directors.

“First Gen would like to emphasize that it enters into contracts and agreements only after conducting transparent and rigorous evaluations, and only upon thorough review and approval by its board of directors,” the company said.

In a statement, the majority, which owns 71 percent of Lopez Inc., asked Piki to explain why he sold majority control of First Gen’s gas assets to Prime Infrastructure, then bought a 40-percent minority stake in Prime’s hydropower business only to bring it down to 33 percent shortly after.

“Why did he give up control of our gas assets, our crown jewels?” they said.

“On hydropower, why reduce to 33 percent the 40 percent minority stake which carried effective veto power? Why not 33 plus one share to keep that veto? This is a significant blunder akin to the Meralco sell-out fiasco Piki engineered and masterminded without consulting the family,” the majority added.

“Why did he not tell us in advance about these projects for transparency and corporate governance purposes? These transactions almost equal the equity of First Gen and need shareholder approval. Why put the transaction under ‘other matters’ and then call for an executive session?” they added.

The majority, in a 5-2 board vote late last month, ousted Piki as president and CEO of Lopez Inc., the ultimate mother company of the group, citing the “loss of trust and confidence” allegedly stemming from incidents prior to the Feb. 27, 2026 special meeting involving First Gen.

The First Gen transactions include the company’s sale of a 60-percent stake in its natural gas business to Prime Infrastructure in 2025 for P50 billion, as well as the firm’s acquisition of a 40-percent interest in Prime Infra’s hydropower portfolio.

“Piki acts like a king without accountability. In reality, he is a salaried corporate officer equivalent to a professional manager with one qualifying share who is in power by the majority’s tolerance,” the Lopez family majority shareholders said.

Piki was able to get a court order allowing him to stay as Lopez Inc. president. The court order also barred him from being removed from other Lopez companies where Lopez Inc. has shares even if they are not involved in the case.

“Because of Piki’s opaque one-man rule, we are blind to where the group is headed. The blunders he made, like giving up full control and the reduction in our stake to 33 percent, are his but it is us and the public shareholders who will suffer,” the majority shareholders said.

The Lopez family majority shareholders stressed that “Piki must go” and they would fight tooth and nail to get him out.

“Piki’s camp said the majority can look at the books but no adverse findings can be used against him. This ridiculous condition only exemplifies his unacceptable opaque management style when transparency is the norm,” they said.

As a publicly listed company, First Gen said it observes with fidelity the rights of all stockholders to equal access to material information by avoiding its premature and selective disclosure.

“This holds true for the transactions with the Prime Infra Group, which all the members of First Gen’s board of directors – including chairman and CEO Federico Lopez and director Manuel “Beaver” Lopez Jr. – unanimously approved,” the company said.

First Gen said it expects its partnership with Prime Infra Group to help sustain its growth, while reaffirming a declaration made 10 years ago by the Lopez Group to avoid coal investments and pursue the company’s transition into a 100-percent renewable energy company in the future.

“First Gen would also want to highlight that, under chairman and CEO Federico Lopez, the company’s operations continue to drive its consistent and growing profitability, resulting in record earnings last year. These earnings totaled roughly $2 billion over the past five years, directly benefiting investors,” it said.